Quick Tips to Keep Your Pets Healthy & Happy

Sometimes pet care isn’t always the most accessible protocol to follow. Animals require special attention to keep healthy, and following a few general guidelines can help ensure your pets’ longevity. We’ve drawn from an existing guideline here that’s served us well through the years, and helped benefit our pets tremendously!

Prevent Pet Sunburn

Did you know that light-colored animals can get sunburn, too? Guard against this by dabbing a bit of SPF 15 sunscreen on your pet’s nose and the tips of his ears.

Fido Being Finicky?

If you’ve bought a new brand of food and your dog doesn’t want to eat it, put a piece of beef jerky in the bag and reseal it. By the next day, the smell will have worn off on the food, making it seem much more appetizing.

Where to Buy Pet Food

When shopping for pet food, make sure to compare prices at the pet store to those at your grocery store. A recent study found that pet food tends to cost more at stores that are full of people who are already buying pet products!

Get Groomed for Less

The busiest days at the pet groomer’s are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Find a groomer who offers discounts on Tuesdays through Thursdays, or ask your groomer if she will offer you a discount for coming midweek.

Stop Cats from Scratching Furniture

If there’s a specific piece of furniture you don’t want your cat on, or place you don’t want him to go, you know how hard it is to enforce this rule. If your yelling doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent to your favorite feline, try this instead: In a spray bottle, mix together 1 cup of water with ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Place in a spray bottle and test in an inconspicuous area of your furniture to make sure it won’t stain. Cats hate the smell, and don’t want it on their paws. Repeat every few days until they find somewhere else to scratch (like that expensive scratching post you bought) permanently.

Pacify a Chewing Puppy

If you have a new puppy like Bruce, and he’s been chewing through chair and table legs, head to your local vitamin or health food store and ask for some clove oil. Oil of cloves smells great to us but terrible to dogs. Wipe it on the legs of anything wooden, and he’ll stay away.

Keep Animals from Chewing on Cords

If your cat or dog likes chewing on electrical cords, we know you need a solution, and fast! Here it is: Unplug the electronics, then rub the cords with a wedge of lemon. Once they’ve dried, you can plug them back in. Animals hate the taste of lemon and will steer clear.

A Better-Behaved Dog

Many dog trainers say that the key to discouraging bad behavior (like incessant barking) is to startle your dog. An easy way to do this is to fill an old toilet paper tube with uncooked rice or beans, then tape aluminum foil over each end. Shake the tube and the noise will be enough to surprise him out of his bad behavior.

Proper Care for Pet Toys

Keep your pets’ playthings clean and free from bacteria and germs by tossing them into the dishwasher alone (without dishes) once a month. But hold the detergent: Just turn the temp to hot and the heat plus the water pressure will completely sanitize plastic or rubber toys. And not only will a quick wash help ensure that Fido stays healthy, it’ll prolong the life of the toys and keep your floors, carpets, and furniture clean, too.

Get Rid of Litter Box Odor

If your cat’s litter box smells like, well, a litter box, rinse it out and add a half-inch of white vinegar in the box. Let it stand for half an hour, then swish it around, rinse, and dry the box.

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